Required approval procedures reduced by 43.3%; the number of privately-owned companies setting up in the district increased by 54% in 2014
Changzhou National Hi-Tech District (“CND”) recently unveiled a new and vastly streamlined list of required administrative approvals for companies seeking to operate in the district. The number of administrative approval procedures has been cut by 43.3%, from 173 to a significantly more manageable 98.
The district chiefly focused their attention on the nomenclature in the approval procedures, the reason why each approval requirement had been originally established, as well as the terms and conditions of each approval, and submitted their suggestions for simplifying and streamlining to the district’s administrative approval system reform office. The office then reviewed the suggestions and decided which ones should be retained by comparing with the list of approval procedures that had been eliminated or had been delegated to a lower authority.
The types of projects, which saw the greatest reduction in the number of approvals required were mainly in the fields of economic development and public services. Of the total procedures:
– those requiring the approval of the economic development bureau were cut by 78.6% from 14 to 3;
– those subject to approval by the city administration and construction bureau declined by 67.4% from 46 to 15; and,
– those requiring approval of the social affairs bureau decreased by 38.2% from 34 to 21.
For construction projects, the approval time:
– for industrial projects shrank by more than 30%;
– for government invested projects by nearly 40%.
The approval authority for each district has committed to reducing the total time for approval from 854.5 working days to 574, improving efficiency by 32%.
CND has also promoted industrial and commercial registration system reforms such as combining the application procedures for the business license and business certificate into one, encouraging the building of innovation incubators and accelerators, as well providing guidance and support for companies that wish to achieve independent innovation. These changes and reforms led to a very positive year for CND in 2014, with 4,180 private firms and 7,973 individually-owned businesses opening their doors in the district, an increase of 54% and 48% compared to 2013, respectively.
